Public School Open Enrollment Technical Assistance Workshops

1. Public School Open Enrollment Technical Assistance Workshops Preferences & Guarantees

2. Preferences • Required by Statute and Administrative Rule • School board policy must include statement of preferences • Guarantees • Permitted by Statute for certain students • School board must adopt policy or resolution if it wishes to provide guarantees of acceptance

3. Preferences

4. Preferences apply only when there are spaces available in the first place McMorrow v. DPI, 2000 WI App 173, paragraph 16

5. Nonresident districts must give preference to “pupils and siblings of pupils who are already attending public school in the nonresident school district.” • Resident districts must give preference to “pupils who are already attending public school in the school district to which they are applying and to siblings of such pupils.” Wis. Stats. §§ 118.51 (3) (a) 2. and (6)

6. If, in the random selection process, one pupil from a family is selected, the resident or nonresident school board must give preference to the remaining siblings who applied at the same time. • However, if space is not available (or is no longer available) in the sibling’s grade, the sibling must be denied. Wis. Adm. Code §§ 36.04 (6) (b) and 36.05 (6) (b)

7. Pupils already attending school in the district to which they apply include: • Pupils attending under the open enrollment program • Pupils for whom tuition is paid • Pupils who currently reside in the district but who plan to move prior to the next school year • Pupils who moved out of the nonresident district but are continuing to attend under a tuition waiver Wis. Adm. Code §§ 36.04 (6) (a) and 36.05 (6) (a)

8. “Siblings” include: • Students who have at least one common parent • Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary, 1979 • Step-siblings who reside in the same household • Wis. Adm. Code § PI 36.02 (12)

9. Continuing students and siblings must be treated equally with respect to preference. One cannot be given priority over another. • If there are more students entitled to preference than there are spaces available, the district must do a random selection among preference students only.

10. Guarantees

11. Nonresident districts may adopt policies that grant guarantees to certain students in spite of a determination that space is not available: • Students already attending the nonresident district to which they have applied and/or • Siblings

12. All students in whichever group(s) the district chooses to guarantee acceptance must be treated equally. That is…

13. If the district guarantees acceptance to continuing students, it must grant the guarantee to all continuing students • If the guarantees acceptance to siblings of continuing students, it must grant the guarantee to all siblings of all continuing students. • If the district guarantees acceptance to siblings of new accepted applicants, it must grant the guarantee to all siblings of all new accepted applicants.

14. Two Ways to Grant Guarantee • Nonresident district may include continuing students and/or siblings in the count of occupied spaces. • Thus, all continuing students (or siblings) would be automatically accepted and the identified open enrollment spaces would be in addition to the occupied spaces and/or… Wis. Stats. § 118.51 (5) (a) 1

15. District may accept a continuing student and/or sibling in spite of a determination that the district does not otherwise have space. • Thus, the district would identify all available spaces, but may exceed the number of available spaces in order to accept continuing students and/or siblings. Wis. Stats. § 118.51 (3) (a) 2

16. Examples of Including Guarantee Students in Count of Occupied Spaces

17. Examples of Granting Guarantee In Spite of No Space Available

18. Adoption of Policies • May repeat statutory language directly: • If the nonresident school board determines that space is not otherwise available for open enrollment pupils in the grade or program to which an individual has applied, the school board may nevertheless an applicant who is already attending school in the nonresident school district or a sibling of the applicant. and/or…

19. In determining the availability of space the nonresident school board may consider criteria such as … and may include in its count of occupied spaces … pupils and siblings of pupils who have applied under sub. (3) (a) and are already attending public school in the nonresident school district.

20. May adapt language to clearly specify which students will be granted guarantees. For example: • If the nonresident school board determines that space is not otherwise available for open enrollment pupils in the grade or program to which an individual has applied, the school board may nevertheless an applicant who is already attending school in the nonresident school district.

21. Information and Assistance

22. Mary Jo Cleaver Public School Open Enrollment Consultant Department of Public Instruction P.O. Box 7841 Madison, WI 53707-7841 608-267-9101 or toll free at 888-245-2732 email: maryjo.cleaver@dpi.state.wi.us

23. Open Enrollment Internet Web Site www.dpi.state.wi.us/dpi/dfm/sms/psctoc.html Open Enrollment List Serv to sign up, send email to: L.scott.eagleburger@dpi.state.wi.us

24. Other DPI Open Enrollment Staff Scott Eagleburger Open Enrollment Data Manager 608-264-9444 L.scott.eagleburger@dpi.state.wi.us Joan Thompson Open Enrollment Program Assistant 608-267-9248 joan.thompson@dpi.state.wi.us Bob Soldner Director, School Management Services 608-266-7475 robert.soldner@dpi.state.wi.us